Dealing with Flea Beetles

[April Manier]

Last year I had a terrible battle with fela beetles. It is now spring and many of you will begin to plant outside. I have written an article on how I vanquished my foe last year. It includes preventative measures that many of you may wish to employ.

http://heronsnestfarm.blogspot.com/2013/03/dealing-with-flea-beatles.html



:happy_flower :rainbow-sun :happy_flower :rainbow-sun :happy_flower

 

[lesa]

I will tell you my easy secret... plant a sacrificial crop. I put in a few eggplants. Man, those flea beetles love them. They get totally covered- and the beetles mostly leave everything else alone. Last year, I even got a few eggplants!

 

[majorcatfish]

that's way to cool ,going to have to remember that one thank you April...

when you can post one on chiggers...????? the evil red biters....... like the title.

 

[April Manier]

that's way to cool ,going to have to remember that one thank you April...

when you can post one on chiggers...????? the evil red biters....... like the title.

I can tell you this about chiggers. Cover with nail polish to suffocate them and don't scratch!:weight

 

[majorcatfish]

that's way to cool ,going to have to remember that one thank you April...

when you can post one on chiggers...????? the evil red biters....... like the title.

and don't scratch!:weight

DON'T SCRATCH........YEAH RIGHT

 

[so lucky]

My mom always said the chiggers don't come out till after the first rain in May. I think that's about right. My saddest/most painful story about chiggers is when my son discovered a big blackberry patch, and decided to take a bucket and pick a bunch "for Mom." Well, he didn't spray or use kerosene or anything, and got at least 300 chigger bites. Poor little guy was about 12 at the time. I felt so bad for him, trying to do something nice for me and having it backfire so horribly. :/

 

[hoodat]

Chiggers prefer rabbits to any other host. That's why there are so many around bramble patches and any other place rabbits frequent.

 

[catjac1975]

Rotenone works or flea beetles and is organic.

 

[April Manier]

ONce we were back east somewhere on the road. We pulled off the highway at a rest stop and decided to camp for the nigh, just out of site. My friend Mariah was a seasoned man from Arkansas and advised us to sleep on the manicured grass, but a young man Flaco who was traveling with us had an insufficient bed roll. He insisted on sleeping in the tall grass for greater cushion. We were worried about snakes more than anything

In the morning we awoke and Flako was unscathed. Making our way down the road he began scratching. By the time we were at the next show Flaco was practically tearing his skin off! He had been wearing these jeans with holes in them. Everywhere there was a hole he had chiggers! The funniest part was that he had this small patch on his derriere. He was putting nail polish on all the bites but he couldn't get to those. You can imagine as we were traveling all over by car he was siting a lot and miserable. Finally after being seized by desperation he announced he couldn't take it! Since I was the only female on board he begged me, "Please, this is embarrassing (yes bare assing ) enough. Please do it for me so I don't have to have a guy do it. Pleeeease"

I still laugh thinking about painting nail polish on his bum!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here if I dont treat my eggplant for flea beetles, they kill the eggplant before it can produce. All the leaves are chewed into lace, dry up, turn to powder and the plant dies. I normally have to treat them twice a year.

Ive seen other people on this forum say that once the plants get big enough flea beetles are not going to cause serious damage. That has not been my experience.